UFC 216 was the moment that Kevin Lee had always dreamt of ever since he began competing in mixed martial arts as a professional at the age of 18. On this October night in 2017, Lee would face off with Tony Ferguson for the interim UFC lightweight title and the opportunity to call himself a champion. Unfortunately, Ferguson defeated Lee by third-round submission and dashed those dreams. But Lee had lost the battle before he even stepped inside the Octagon.

With 24 hours to go to make the 155-pound title fight limit, Lee still weighed 174 pounds. Things didn't look good when he initially tipped the scales at 156. He was allowed one hour to attempt to lose a pound. Lee returned within the time frame at 154.5 to make the bout official.

"The weight cut for the Ferguson fight was one of the hardest things I've ever done in my life to the point where once I had cut the weight then I could start thinking about the fight," Lee admits to Sporting News. "I was still recovering from that weight cut even during the fight itself. I think I did more damage to my body to myself during that one than I did from the fight, which is ridiculous."

Then, in his next time out against Edson Barboza in April 2018, Lee came in at 157 pounds, which was one pound over the non-title fight limit of 156 pounds. Lee fought one more time at lightweight in December, losing a narrow decision to Al Iaquinta.

After the fight, Lee took some time to reflect on where his career was going. There was a logjam at lightweight and, according to Lee, the "politics" were going to make it difficult for him to get another crack at the gold anytime soon. Instead of putting his body through the ringer, Lee is now making it easier for himself as he makes his debut at welterweight on Saturday night when he headlines UFC Rochester against former lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos.

The training camp for dos Anjos compared to previous ones were night and day for Lee. He felt he had more energy, which allowed him to put everything he had into training, replenish himself, and go right back into another training session. Seeing how smoothly camp went for him and having to cut minimal weight heading into Saturday makes Lee think he should have done this a long time ago.

"Honestly, I wish I would have made a move to 170 sooner and had the opportunity a little earlier," Lee said. "I think as the sport is growing and evolving, it's more and more seeing fighters compete at their natural weight. That is something I've wanted to see from the beginning. It's a fair fight at that point. I never really was the biggest guy at 155. I fought several lightweights bigger than me. I had to cut the weight, and they had to cut the weight. For a fight like this where we are clearly the same size in a similar frame, then it's a fair fight. I like 170 pounds because I get to focus 100 percent on Dos Anjos. I think it's going to play out in my favor."

Knowing how simple everything has gone for Lee during this period would make fans scratch their heads and wonder why the Michigan native didn't make the 15-pound trek up after the Ferguson bout or after the Barboza at the very latest? Simply put, stubbornness.

"It was something I had my mind set on," Lee said on staying at lightweight for so long. "That was where I started my career, and I said I was going to get that title and that's what I was going to do. I had been fighting at 155 professionally since I was 18. Growing as a man and especially as an athlete, I just got bigger and bigger over the years. When I was about 24 was when I started to notice a change.

"Naturally, I tried to fight it back to what my body was trying to do which may have caused me some health problems," Lee added. "I think going forward, and into the future, it's about showing up to these fights at 100 percent because the sport itself and all the variables it brings is dangerous enough and I'm not having this battle with the scale before I have the battle with the man."

How good Lee will be making the transition is yet to be decided. UFC president Dana White has stated in the past that dos Anjos (28-11) is his litmus test to see how good someone is. Kamaru Usman dominated dos Anjos in November and parlayed it into defeating Tyron Woodley at UFC 235 to become the welterweight champion. "The Motown Phenom" understands what emerging victorious over the Brazilian means for his career in what is his "likely" new home at 170 pounds.

"A win means bigger fights," Lee said. "I think each fight I got into is getting bigger and bigger especially at 170 where you have so many of these top guys like Colby Covington, Anthony Pettis, Nate Diaz is now back and Ben Askren."